He said: “Your local lollypop person is extremely loyal to the role they provide and brave, not only the ever-increasing traffic but also the harshness of the winter. The very low pay is often only enough to pay the monthly gas and electric bills.

“In this time of financial austerity, for local councillors to muse over the safety of our children to save a financial drop in the ocean deserves nothing but our condemnation and disgust.

“Should this invaluable service be reduced the unthinkable possibility of the injury or death of a child must be a consideration.”

Neville Hymus, 62, who has been crossing children in Crosby for nine years, added: “The fat has already been trimmed from the bone so making more savings will be very difficult.

“They’ve said that we’ll probably have to take a 5% pay cut for three years.

“We only get paid about £50 a week but I didn’t realise how much some people rely on it.”

The scale-backs threaten the likes of Farnborough Road Junior and Infant School lollipop lady, Emily Jones, who was last month featured in a nationwide radio campaign praising her tireless work within the community.

A Sefton spokesman said: "We are currently looking at all options in relation to our budget. At the moment no decisions have been made on this."